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A Westfield businessman has been sentenced to 18 months in prison for tax evasion and financial aid fraud.

U.S. Attorney Joseph Hogsett said Joseph Hinshaw, 57, under-reported his income to avoid taxes and to obtain federal and state student loans totaling $50,640.

Hinshaw, who operated telemarketing companies Circ Solution and Circ Pros from 2003 to 2007, also concealed income in a bank account of an elderly relative, evading $298,746 in taxes. His income between 2003 and 2007 totaled $881,180, according to the government.

The student loans were used to pay for Hinshaw’s tuition at Indiana Wesleyan University and for his son to attend Ball State University, according to court records.

Hinshaw was also ordered by U.S. District Judge Tanya Walton Pratt to pay restitution to the U.S. Department of Education and to cooperate with the Internal Revenue Service in meeting his tax obligations.